Bible dictionary

Daphne

A beautiful grove and sanctuary to Apollo located near Antioch in Syria. The Greek ruler Seleucus I lived here and built a huge statue of Apollo in addition to a temple. Here, criminals and political refugees could take asylum, as it was illegal to arrest anyone within Daphne. In 2 Maccabees 4:33 the high priest Onias, who had been true to Yahweh in boldly scolding King Menelaus, hid here. He was, however, brought out by trickery and murdered.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)The classic article on this subject

Adapted by Mission Mutual (Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary) from Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. CC BY-SA 4.0. About the sources